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Hillingdon Paralympic champ gets gold!

Hillingdon Council would like to congratulate borough resident Natasha Baker who secured the first equestrian gold of the Paralympic Games for Britain on Saturday, and a second today (Monday 3 September).

News release:
03 September 2012

She beat the German competition with a score of 76.857 and set a new Paralympic Grade II record in the process at the weekend.

The post box near Uxbridge Station was painted gold by Royal Mail today, 3 September, to celebrate Natasha's Paralympic gold medal success. Another will be painted to mark her second gold medal.

Natasha, 22, of Cowley, bought her horse JP, whose show name is Cabral, using the money she received from the council's bursary scheme. The scheme is designed to help talented young athletes who have lived in the borough for more than 10 years to achieve their full potential by providing some financial support.

Councillor Henry Higgins, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport & Leisure, said: "We are immensely proud of Natasha and JP, they really deserve this medal as they have worked so hard to achieve this amazing accolade. We are honoured too to have played a part in helping her reach her goal and I hope this will spur on other borough athletes to find out more about our bursary scheme. Natasha really deserves this success and we wish her all the best for the future."

Individual first class stamps featuring Natasha's image are also being produced. The stamps will be on sale in around 500 Post Offices across the UK within five working days and at a further 4,700 branches thereafter.

If you are a talented sports star living in Hillingdon contact the sports team to find out more about the grants scheme. Email sportsdev@hillingdon.gov.uk